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Aldi named nation’s favourite supermarket as Waitrose slumps

12 February 2018

Budget retailer Aldi has been rated the nation’s favourite in-store supermarket in Which?’s annual best and worst supermarket satisfaction survey.

Aldi’s special offers rated well, as did the quality of its fresh and own-label products and the ease of finding items on its shelves. It is the second time Aldi has come top in Which?’s annual survey – the previous occasion was in 2014.

Waitrose has been knocked off the top spot, which it held for three years, and dropped to fourth position. Its customers gave it a two star rating for its value for money, in contrast to Aldi’s five.

Marks & Spencer came in second place in the in-store survey with five star ratings across store appearance, quality of own-label products and the quality of fresh products.

Lidl ranks in third position with five stars for its value for money, but did not do so well with customers when it came to queuing time, staff availability and range of products.

The big four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s – languish at the bottom of the in-store survey. Customers at Sainsbury’s were least impressed with its special offers and value for money, bringing it in last out of nine supermarkets.

Among online supermarkets, Iceland has claimed the top spot for the third year running, which it shares with Ocado for the first time. Iceland received five stars for its driver’s service and the availability of delivery slots – with three quarters (76%) of shoppers saying their most recent order was delivered on time.

Asda languishes at the bottom of the online supermarkets table, where it has been for more than a decade.

Launching in 2016, Amazon Fresh has been included in the online survey for the first time, coming in fifth position. The service is only available to certain postcodes in the south east of England.

“With food costs rising it seems as though shoppers have felt the pinch and are voting with their feet and wallets. Aldi and Lidl have won over their customers with value for money, knocking Waitrose off the top spot.

“The big four supermarkets need to up their game or risk losing their customers to other supermarkets who are doing a better job of giving people what they want.”

Notes to Editors:

Survey verbatims:

Aldi received mixed feedback in Which?’s survey – and although stores were described as “untidy” and “a jumble sale” and customers complained about rushed checkouts, value for money trumped premium product lines.

Aldi fans loved the supermarket’s “fantastic prices” with many also praising an “always improving” selection of food.

One customer said Waitrose is “a bit pricey – which is why I don’t do my main shop there”, while others praised its “top quality” produce and “polite customers”.

According to one shopper, the supermarket has “great prices but the in-store experience is not good. There are long queues at the checkout and insufficient staff”.In October 2017, Which? asked 6,800 members of the UK public about their experience of shopping for groceries both in-store and at online supermarkets over the previous six months, as well as in convenience stores (in-store results do not include convenience stores). The overall customer score is a combination of each shopper’s customer satisfaction with a supermarket they’ve used and the likelihood they’d recommend it to a friend. Customer scores aren’t directly linked to individual star ratings.